Sore wrists and arm balances

Namaste fellow yogis! Ok, so i've been practicing Hatha solo for close to a year now and recently worked up the courage to start arm balances and move to handstand. Seeing a man go from crow pose/bakasana to headstand during a demo inspired me join up actually, and that's my goal. Problem is, after a while of practising the transition (i tend to push myself because im a little too ambitious), my right wrist gave way and hurts like hell now whenever i do any pose putting pressure on the hands. Anyone know what the pain might mean and if it means my "dream" is unachievable? Thing is, i also lift weights so im not sure if im helping or just making things worse. Plus i practise solo out of necessity, the times at the local studio clash too much with my class schedule so i just have books and a few websites to guide me through poses and sequences... Any helpful hints?

I have recurring wrist issues as well (thanks to my years scooping ice cream at Haagen Dasz during high school).

One thing that I've discovered to alleviate wrist tension/pain is to slightly turn your hands out, so that instead of having your index fingers parallel to each other, you have your thumbs parallel to each other. This is especially helpful in my bakasana to headstand transition but I use it throughout my practice, from down dog on. It also helps to ensure that your biceps are turned in and that your elbows aren't splayed out to the sides like wings.

Also, lots of gorilla pose, with your weight really in the balls of your feet!

Always make sure to warm up your wrists before doing arm balances. There are some great stretches, not from yoga, that I use before doing any serious arm balances. Basically you rock your weight back and forth over your wrists with your arms locked out, first with hands parallel and facing away from your body, then facing towards your body, and lastly with your hands palm side up turned toward your body. Make sure to keep all of your fingers down on the floor. I can't even attempt the preparatory pose to mayurasana, swan pose, without seriously warming and stretching out my forearms and wrists.

Also I know many people will tie a strap around their arms so that when they press up and their arms bow to the side, the strap will restrain their arms which can take pressure off of the forearms.

Sounds good. Though i have a thing against straps, dont really like em personally. My last instructor used to say i like the "austere path" a little too much. Anyway though rocking helps loads and ive been following dwillmill's tip on gorilla pose, worked excellently. Ofcourse im still ways away from transitioning between crow and headstand, but i found i like arm balances way more now.